Every corporate organization stores and processes data that is important to the needs and objectives of its customers. The organization may employ various kinds of computer systems to process data and other information based on interaction between the customer and the organization as well as business events that impact the customer. For example, business events might include changes that occur in balances of customer accounts held by a financial institution. It is often useful to communicate to herald the occurrence of business events to both customers and management of the organization, such as by using alerts to communicate changes that affect the organization and its customers.
Each line of business of an organization often creates alert communications based on its own specific needs and develops custom computer systems for processing and generating alerts, along with a customized set of protocols for such communications. It can be appreciated that this unfavorably creates operational inefficiencies with respect to sharing information among multiple lines of business. Typically, operating an alert communication system involves interfacing with and modifying the programming of core information systems of the organization to initiate the alerts. Often, conventional alert communication systems must wait for batch-oriented transactions to be processed before alerts can be issued. Many such communication systems do not effectively process or communicate alerts on a real-time basis. Also, conventional alert systems can be inflexible with regard to the limited notification options and other preferences they provide for customers.
In view of the foregoing issues, enhanced tools, techniques and strategies are needed for processing, managing, and communicating alerts and alert information associated with business events that occur within an organization.